


Bitten by the Same Bug

by PunJedi



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, First Kiss, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Love Potion/Spell, M/M, love bug au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-21
Updated: 2017-08-21
Packaged: 2018-12-18 08:52:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11870865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PunJedi/pseuds/PunJedi
Summary: There's nothing like seven days of your rival having pronounced romantic feelings for you to change the way you see the world... and for Lance, it's no different.AKA where Keith gets bitten by a love bug on an alien planet and Lance has to deal with the feelings that that brings out.





	Bitten by the Same Bug

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this because one of my friends showed me a cute little art piece by [eyugho](http://eyugho.tumblr.com/post/164178271830/love-bug-au-where-they-visit-a-planet-and-keith) on tumblr, and I really enjoyed the idea and wanted to write about it.  
> I did change it up a little bit, though... this is a tad different from your typical love spell, as you'll see when you read it.  
> Hope you all enjoy!

Lance wished for once Keith could keep his cool during diplomatic meetings. There was a reason all five of them, seven if you counted Coran and Allura, rarely went down to the surface at once. In fact, there was a reason why one of them in particular rarely went down to the surface _at all._

And that one was Keith, because he was an impulsive hothead who had about as much diplomatic sense in his whole body as Lance did in one pinky finger, and Lance wasn’t even used to dealing with alien races like the Alteans were. You’d think someone who was part alien might have a better sense of dealing with other aliens than Keith did, but no. He was beyond help in that aspect.

Now, if only Lance hadn’t been the one who had to go after him.

It wasn’t his choice, obviously: Shiro had given him The Look™ after Keith had stormed out, and Lance had no choice but to follow, albeit waiting a few minutes for Keith to cool off. Lance didn’t see what he had done to deserve baby-sitting duty, but arguing with Shiro in front of a potential alliance was what had gotten Keith kicked out in the first place.

That was how he wound up walking through an admittedly picturesque countryside, green-yellow grasses reaching all the way up to his hips. Some of them were flowering with thin, lacy, dark crimson blooms, which Lance admitted were pretty beautiful, although they didn’t seem like anything that bloomed on Earth. He had also noticed a few bugs fluttering around; one in particular had caught his eye, a beetle with with wings that curved at the top to taper to a point at the bottom, rather like either half of a heart. It was a similar crimson to the flowers, but it was even darker, with a light spray of white dots across its back. It had landed on a petal and seemed to stare at Lance before flying off, and he couldn’t help being unnerved by the insect’s seemingly undivided attention.

Keith was relatively easy to spot in the field. He hadn’t gotten far, and while he _was_ shorter than Lance (something Lance never let him forget), he wasn’t so much shorter that he would get lost in the grass. Pidge, however… she could probably wander into the field and never be seen again.

As Lance walked closer, he saw that Keith had stopped walking and was facing away from him. As much as he didn’t want to willingly draw an angry Keith’s attention, he figured it was better to do it while he was stopped rather than stalking farther away.

“Hey! Keith!”

Almost immediately, Keith’s head turned, and Lance gasped aloud. Instead of Keith’s regular, violet-hued irises, both of his eyes had flooded completely blue, and they were glowing with a strange, inner light.

As soon as he locked eyes with Lance, the glowing blueness faded, and, in Lance’s opinion, something even more startling took its place. A fond look slid onto Keith’s face, complete with a warm smile and soft eyes that Lance felt he could lose himself in if he stared long enough…

Lance shook his head, trying to clear his own thoughts but also to make sure he wasn’t hallucinating, because Keith _never_ looked at him like that.

He looked over again, hoping to see Keith back to his own usual glaring self. But nope, Keith was still standing and staring with a smile that made Lance’s skin crawl like a thousand of those crimson bugs had landed on him.

“Lance!”

Lance nearly doubled over. If the look on Keith’s face wasn’t enough to convince him something was wrong, the tone of his voice was. It had so many emotions wrapped in it, but they were all positive, fond, and strangely personal. He sounded _excited_ to see Lance, but also as if that excitement was all just for him, and no one else. If anyone had been around, Lance _definitely_ would have felt awkward. As it was, he just felt like he was in some sort of alternate reality where Keith didn’t hate him. A dream, maybe.

As Keith jogged over to him, still grinning widely with those warm, open eyes, Lance wondered if it might be a decent dream after all.

“Hey, Lance,” he said, and the tenderness in his voice made Lance’s heart ache. “What are you doing out here?”

“I–uh, I came to get you? Shiro sent me to get you.”

Keith’s arm snaked down to Lance’s side and before he knew it, Keith had grabbed his hand and intertwined their fingers before looking up with a smirk and a sparkle in his violet eyes. “Well. You’ve got me.”

_What._

_What the actual hell._

Was Keith… Lance needed a second to process all of the information streaming through his brain. Holding his hand? Grinning? Teasing tone? Twinkle in his eyes?

It all added up, except for one thing… it was _Keith._ And Keith could never, _ever_ be… _flirting with him?_

Keith had already started tugging Lance along as he struggled to understand what was going on. What the hell had happened to Keith that suddenly he went from, well… his regular, sulky Keith behavior, to flirty, fond whoever this guy was?

Plus, Lance’s cheeks felt so hot he was surprised they weren’t boiling the air next to them. He couldn’t stop thinking about his own sweaty palm in Keith’s firm, warm grip without getting goosebumps all over. This was the kind of stuff he’d dream about… so why did Lance feel so darn awake? He felt more alert than that time when he drank a cup of straight espresso and couldn’t sleep for days.

And Keith wasn't helping matters. Instead of just impatiently pulling Lance along, which is what the _real_ Keith would have been doing, he kept looking back with that foreign expression in his eyes and slowing when Lance started to stop. Lance had been to what felt like a hundred alien planets, all with their fair share of weird things, but he could safely say nothing had ever happened to him weirder than this.

They found the others on their way to the castle, almost to the little pod that would take them up. Lance began jogging to catch up, and Keith matched his pace. Lance shouldn't have been surprised at this point, but he couldn't help noticing that normally Keith would have ran ahead. He was faster, after all, and while he didn't inherently want to make everything a competition like Lance did, he would always pour on a little extra speed.

But not today, because whatever crazy spell Keith was under wouldn't let him.

As they got closer, the others turned. And stared. Lance couldn't say he blamed them.

They came to a halt, and the other five’s eyes were wide as they noticed their linked hands and the way Keith was smiling at Lance, and the look of mortal terror on the blue paladin’s face.

“So,” he said, raising their joined hands. “We may have a problem.”

* * *

 

“Ah, the Amorian Love Beetle. I remember that little bugger. Feeds on the erosbloom and it once caused quite a tiff between Alfor and his girlfriend. I remember quite well, he became quite infatuated with–”

“Coran.” Allura’s stern tone cut through his monologue. “Back to the matter at hand.”

“Ah, yes. Well, as I was saying, it appears Number Four was bitten by the beetle. I don't remember the logistics, but I believe it creates romantic feelings for the first intelligent life form it sees.”

“So why did he fall in love with Lance? He's not an intelligent life form.” Pidge asked, adjusting her glasses and grinning.

“Hey!”

“Just saying.”

“Pidge, this isn't the time.”

“Back to the important questions–like, is it permanent? Am I going to be stuck with Keith on my arm forever?”

“Negatory, Number Three. The beetle’s effect lasts little more than seven quintants.”

“Quintants… seven _days?_ A whole _week?”_

“I believe that is the Earth translation.”

Lance couldn’t believe it. Keith would be under some bug’s crazy love spell for an entire _week?_ They couldn’t keep him sedated forever; they had only knocked him out the first time so Coran could get some readings and they could talk without him hearing. He was currently still fast asleep in his room, but Lance had no doubt that when he woke up he would come seek him out.

“Isn’t there anything we can do?” Shiro asked. “It’s very… unsettling.”

“Well, Lance, you said that his eyes glowed in the field?”

“Yeah. He stopped walking ahead of me, and I called his name, and he turned around and his eyes were glowing blue–not like navy blue, but more… the color of my armor? A lighter blue like that. And then… you know.” His face heated up even now just thinking about Keith and his weird behavior… a flush that wasn’t lost on Pidge.

“Aww, are you uncomfortable with Keith’s constant attention? I’d thought you’d be _thrilled_ to finally have someone so into you… and a catch like Keith, no less.”

Lance now suspected his face was as scarlet as an Amorian Love Beetle. “Wha–no–of course not–that’s– _what_ –Pidge…” Pidge just raised an eyebrow, amused by Lance’s flustered response as he tried desperately to collect himself. _“Of course not._ That’s _gross._ Keith is my _rival,_ and my begrudging teammate at _best_ . No way could he ever, uh, I ever– _ewww, Pidge,_ how old are you, five?”

The gremlin just chuckled and went back to looking at the scans. “But anyway, he’s got abnormally high readings of dopamine, adrenaline, and serotonin. All chemicals released by the brain when the subject’s in love.”

Lance couldn’t help wincing whenever Pidge said “love”. Because it wasn’t really love, was it? It was just… fake emotion produced by some freaky alien insect. It wasn’t love, and it would never be love, Keith could never love someone like Lance…

_Dammit._

_Maybe… maybe Pidge_ is _right. Maybe I do… like Keith._

As soon as he allowed his brain to think it, he realized just how true it was. All that time he spent teasing him, competing with him; that was just so Keith would _notice_ him. And whenever he saw Keith in pain, he had to comfort him. It was like second nature.

He had a crush on Keith Kogane. Who was currently under a spell to love _him._

What was so painful was the fact that it took an alien love bug bite to make him feel that way.

Lance buried his face in his hands, bringing them upwards to pull through his hair and groaning. “What the hell am I going to do?”

“Wait it out?” Hunk suggested, oblivious to Lance’s real question. “I guess that’s all we can do.”

“What should we do in the meantime? We can’t form Voltron like this, and–”

The whoosh of a sliding door interrupted Shiro as everyone but Lance turned.

“Lance?” came Keith’s groggy voice as he shuffled in. And kept shuffling, all the way over to wrap his arms loosely around Lance’s torso and lean against his back. “M’tired.”

“That’s probably because we drugged you,” Lance muttered, noticing the incredible lack of backup he was getting from his other friends.

“Mmm?”

“Er, nothing. If you’re tired, why don’t you go back to sleep?”

“Can’t sleep.”

Lance sighed. Taking care of a drugged, lovestruck Keith was akin to taking care of his toddler niece when she woke up from a nap… except Keith was a whole lot warmer, and his niece never made him feel like his cheeks were on fire. “Why not?”

“Too cold.”

“Do you need another blanket or something?”

“Mmm. You.”

Lance stiffened, and he swore he heard a snicker. He’d get that little gremlin later, when all of this was over. “What?”

“Need you.” Keith repeated, like a stubborn toddler, and tightened his grip around Lance’s waist.

“Umm… no?”

“Mmph.”

“I’m not… sleeping with you. No. Nuh-uh. Not happening, Keith.” Lance definitely heard a snicker at that, and he shot a glare over his shoulder. _Stop being dirty,_ he mouthed, before turning his attention back to the Keith koala hanging from him.

“Please?” The deep note of longing in his voice sent chills down Lance’s spine… it sounded too much like the voice in his subconscious when it talked about Keith. He felt his will steadily crumbling, which was _way_ too dangerous. If he allowed himself to be fooled by Keith’s fake affections, when he came out of it Lance would be in for a very rude awakening.

An awakening he wasn’t sure his heart would be able to take.

Unfortunately, love-spelled or not, Keith was just as stubborn as ever. As in, he literally would not let go of Lance, no matter how hard he tried to pry him off.

“Lance,” came Shiro’s voice, the first intervention since Keith had walked in. “Maybe you should just go with him. He’s clearly not moving. Or in his right mind.”

Lance wasn’t even sure what he wanted anymore, but he did know enough to be pretty sure that Shiro had just betrayed him. “Are you sure we can’t just drug him again?”

Shiro gave him a look that said that was not an option. “We can’t just keep drugging him. Look how out of it he is after just one time, and we barely used any.”

“Yeah, Lance, go get in bed with your boyfriend,” Pidge teased, and both Shiro and Lance shot her a dirty look.

“Not the time, Pidge.”

“Yeah, Pidge. Not the time!” Lance shot, giving one last finally tug on Keith’s firmly locked arms before slumping. “Fine, Shiro.”

“Thank you, Lance.”

The blue paladin sighed. “Okay, Keith. I’ll come with you.”

“Thanks,” the groggy boy muttered before letting go of Lance’s waist and grabbing his hand. “C’mon.”

Lance allowed himself to be dragged out of the room, shooting one more desperate glance over his shoulder before the door closed. The others didn’t even have the decency to look properly worried; Shiro just looked tired, Pidge looked downright amused, Hunk looked torn before nervousness and bemusement, and both Allura and Coran looked curious. None of them looked particularly fearful on Lance’s behalf, which he found deeply wounding.

Keith barely made it to his bed before collapsing onto it–Lance tried to gently pull away and escape, but the red paladin wasn’t asleep yet, and just pulled Lance down onto the mattress in a surprising display of strength. Keith pulled Lance close, nuzzling his nose into Lance’s neck in a way that made his heart race, and slipped a hand around his waist to secure them closer.

Within seconds, Keith was fast asleep, his light breaths tickling Lance’s neck. Had Lance tried to extricate himself from Keith’s grasp, he was pretty sure he would have woken him… plus, he found he was quickly losing his desire to do so. Keith was warm, so, so warm, and so, so close. Much closer than Lance ever thought he would be.

It had been a very long, tense day. Would it be so wrong to fall asleep here? With Keith in his arms, his intoxicating warmth lulling Lance into a sense of safety? He wasn’t going to be able to get up for a while, after all…

Lance felt his eyes sliding shut, but he found he didn’t care. He was tired, he was heartsick, and Keith was warm, Keith was safe.

A few heartbeats later, Lance slid into a warm, quiet darkness.

* * *

 

_“HEY! LOVEBIRDS! GET THE HELL UP, IT’S DAYTIME!”_

Lance jolted upright in bed, followed quickly by Keith. The announcement had come from the speaker in the room, but it clearly wasn’t either of the Alteans… Lance grunted. Pidge must have found the intercom, which should probably be Pidge-proofed.

Especially since she was using it to wake people up in what seemed to be a non-emergency. He was very tempted to yell at the wall, but he figured that would accomplish nothing more than making him look dumb. Not that Keith was probably even capable of viewing him as dumb in his state.

Lance groaned, stretching. How long had they been out? If Pidge had said it was daytime, they must have slept the entire night and into the next day. _Ugh. She’ll never let me live this down. Sleeping in the same bed as_ Keith, _of all people._

He couldn’t quite believe he had done it, but looking over at Keith convinced him. He was brighter-eyed than before, having slept off the drug, but his eyes were still full of that soft fondness that made Lance squirm. If he hadn’t known that it was borne of fake, insect-induced emotion, he might not have been squirming, exactly… but it was.

“Good morning, Lance.”

“Morning, Keith.”

“You look good this morning,” Keith said, and Lance was pretty sure his heart was going to stop beating. He looked like crap, he knew he looked like crap, he just slept through the night in his rumpled clothes and hadn’t used any of his lotions for his face or done anything to his bed hair. But somehow Keith saying that made him feel… like maybe he wasn’t wrong? After all, if there was one person Lance wanted to look good _for,_ it was Keith.

But it was fake. It was fake, and whatever Keith was feeling was goddamn fake and it couldn’t ever be more than that. It couldn’t ever be _real._ Lance finally had found reciprocated love and it was because of the bite of a love bug.

_Why did life have to be so goddamn complicated?_

“–ance? You okay?” Keith was looking at him with soft concern in his deep violet eyes, gently taking one of Lance’s hands in his own. “Are you alright? You zoned out there for a sec.”

Lance tried to subtly remove his hand from Keith’s grasp, but Keith willingly let go, giving Lance the space he wanted. Though after it was gone, he almost missed the warm presence of Keith’s skin against his. “I’m fine. I was just… thinking, is all. No need to worry about me, I was just lost in thought for a second. No big deal. No need to worry.” The concern hadn’t left Keith’s eyes, but Lance ignored it. “C’mon, we’ve got to get up. Pidge’ll probably break down our door if we don’t come soon.”

Keith was silent one beat, two, before sighing and getting out of bed. “Yeah, you’re right. Let’s go.”

Keith didn’t take his hand again as they walked to the dining area, but he did stand abnormally close–close enough that if Lance wanted to reach out and take his hand, he could. Lance almost wanted to… but that was sign enough that he couldn’t. The more he got pulled in, the more it would hurt later.

Why did it have to be _Keith_ of all people? The one person that would make it hurt when it wore off. Any of the others, he’d be glad for it to end–the whole experience would be weird, but he could live with it for a week. _Keith,_ though… he was the only person who could make him _want_ it.

And that made Lance terrified.

Pidge didn’t even glance up as they entered the room–she was sitting at the table, a bowl of half-eaten food goo pushed off to the side as she typed furiously on her laptop–but she did snicker. “Sleep well?”

“Oh, shut up–”

“Yeah, I did,” answered Keith. “Lance did too. He didn’t wake up once.”

“How would you even know that if you were asleep?”

“If he had woken up I would’ve too.” The directness in Keith’s voice made it all sound so obvious, like _of course_ if Lance woke up he would too, _of course_ he wouldn’t be able to sleep if Lance couldn’t, but it made Lance’s skin itch. His skin had been crawling way too often lately.

Pidge just snorted. “Fair enough. The others are down on the surface, doing diplomatic stuff while trying to figure out more about the bug. We figured you two should probably sit this one out.”

Lance nodded. “That, at least, makes sense. Why’re you here?”

“I didn’t want to go down, and someone had to stay here and chaperone you two,” She looked up, still typing, to shoot Lance a cheeky grin. He scowled in return, just causing her grin to grow wider before ducking her head down to continue staring at her computer. “You know where to find the food goo, and after that I don't care what you do. Just be aware I’ve tapped into the Castle’s cameras, so don't do anything you wouldn't want a fourteen-year-old seeing.”

“Pidge!” Lance exclaimed–just as Keith said the same thing. He looked down at the other boy, and sure enough, Keith’s face was as red as his lion. That was interesting. Lance hadn’t realized Keith could feel embarrassed about anything regarding his affections for Lance while under the spell (though afterwards… that was an embarrassment wonderland just waiting to be discovered). “I’m not–he’s not– _god, Pidge,_ how old are you?”

“That’s the second time you’ve asked me that now.”

“Well that’s the second time you’ve made jokes about… well, things you shouldn’t be joking about.”

“Who said I’m joking?” she asked, an eyebrow raised. “Maybe I’m dead serious and very very worried about what you and ol’ Heart Eyes there are doing with your free time.”

“Which is _nothing!”_ Lance exclaimed. He really was getting shaken by this; it was bad enough having to deal with a lovesick Keith, but being _teased_ about it by Pidge was really not helping matters. Especially since he was barely sure which way was up anymore in this crazy relationship he had going on. _“Seriously, Pidge.”_

Keith seemed to sense his agitation and gently pulled him to a chair, on the opposite side of the table from the gremlin. He sat down as Keith went up and got two bowls of food goo and brought them back, offering one of them to Lance with a shy smile.

Lance smiled back, genuinely this time. “Thanks, Keith.”

“You’re welcome.” His tone seemed to say so much more than just the two words, like _I would do this and so much more for you, if you asked,_ but neither Lance nor Keith pressed it any further and simply sat eating their food goo in, if not comfortable, companionable silence.

* * *

 

The others got back later that day, looking thoroughly wiped out. Diplomacy was hard, especially when dealing with literal aliens, and the Amori were no exception.

In fact, they were particularly hard to deal with, given their peculiar way of speaking.

They communicated with those they knew best purely with physical gestures, and they used more and more spoken word the less they knew a person. However, as they began to know people a bit better, as they had with the paladins, they used less words and more gestures. And as much as Coran said he knew what a gentle brush on the hand or a pat on the left shoulder meant, they hadn’t been able to get much out of the aliens regarding the love beetle.

Lance, needless to say, wasn’t pleased. He knew he had technically had a relatively easy day, because all he had had to do was stay in the Castle, but he had also had to look after lovestruck Keith, which was a challenge all in itself.

One thing he had noticed over the course of the day was that the love bug bite seemed much different than what he had seen in movies or read about (not that he was interested in romances, of course). While Keith was incredibly attached to him, at his side pretty much 24/7, and he was much more lovey-dovey than he had ever been in his entire life, he didn’t really… _press_ himself on Lance. He worried over him, gave him little compliments, flirted a little bit, and stayed in contact with him whenever he could, but he didn’t try and further their tenuous relationship. Lance wasn’t pressed into any dark corners, at the very least (and to Pidge’s great relief).

It was interesting, and in a way, it made it even harder to know he was going to have to let it go. If Keith had just flung himself at Lance, it would have made it a lot easier to push him away. But how do you push away someone who seems to genuinely care about you and looks at you with those intense violet eyes?

Lance honestly needed time away from Keith to figure out what the hell was happening. No, more than that, he needed to talk it out with someone.

 _Hunk._ That was it. He needed to talk to Hunk. Hunk would know what to do. He would know what to say. He would lift the lead blanket hanging on Lance’s heart and give him respite and advice.

Now, he just needed to figure out how to pry Keith away from himself for an hour.

He finally got an idea when they walked by Coran cleaning some various equipment in the walls.

“You know Keith,” Lance slowed until they were just slightly past Coran, and turned around so he could face both Keith and the Altean. “I was wondering. Do you think there are any Galra in the area? We’ve been here quite a long time.” He noticed Coran had looked up from his cleaning to watch them, and he nodded slightly. Coran tilted his head, and kept watching.

Keith was silent, only reaching out to take Lance’s other hand and rubbing his thumb over his knuckles. “Maybe. If you think we have a reason to worry about it, we probably do. Your instincts are spot-on, after all.” Coran grinned and raised an eyebrow as Lance flushed, and he had to resist glaring at the Altean over Keith’s shoulder. “Should someone go out for recon?”

“Good idea,” Lance said, and he suddenly wished he was wearing sunglasses because the smile Keith sent up at him was blinding. _“Someone SHOULD go out for recon. Maybe SHIRO will have an idea.”_ He sent a loaded glance at Coran, jerking his head at Keith, and Coran nodded and winked, sending him a thumbs-up.

“Yeah,” Keith agreed. “Tell me if you start feeling antsy, will you? I trust your instincts. If they say something’s wrong, you need to tell me, okay? I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

Lance nodded and smiled softly down at Keith, trying to ignore his furiously beating heart and flaming cheeks. “I don’t want anything to happen to you, either. I’ll tell you, as long as you don’t run headlong into danger, alright?”

Keith looked conflicted, but nodded. “Alright. I won’t run _straight_ into danger.”

“Thanks, Keith. I appreciate you having my back.” Lance smiled wider as he stared into Keith’s eyes, the fact that they had an audience completely forgotten.

Keith smiled back, gently pulling on Lance’s hands to draw him just a tad closer.

“Always.”

* * *

 

“Keith, Allura wants us to do some recon in our lions, check for Galra in our immediate surroundings.” Shiro said, and Keith stuck his bottom lip out in an admittedly adorable pout. “I know what you’re thinking, but it’s non-negotiable.”

“Can’t Lance come?” he asked, almost approaching a whine. “At least if I have to go.”

“Nope, sorry. He’s got to stay here with Hunk and work on some Castle stuff.”

“How about Hunk goes with you and I stay here with Lance?”

Lance figured this would never get anywhere if he didn’t intervene himself. “Please, Keith? It’ll just be an hour or two, and it’d mean a lot to me to know you were out there looking out for us all.” Lance swallowed against the strange feeling in his chest, but he couldn’t quite clear it. “I’d feel a lot safer.”

Keith nodded almost instantly, violet eyes heavy with emotion Lance still couldn’t name. “Alright. I’ll–I’ll see you in a little bit, Lance.”

The red paladin rose up onto his toes, leaning against Lance, to press a light, fleeting kiss onto his cheek, and then he was gone, heading after Shiro. He shot one more sincere glance over his shoulder before they exited the room, leaving the blue paladin to slowly brush his cheek in barely disguised wonder.

He felt like both everything and nothing had changed all at once, but he did know one thing: he had to talk to Hunk. Now.

As Lance sped through the Castle, everything was a blur. All he knew was he had to actually _talk_ about this; not just the technical stuff, but talking about it for _what it was_ and what it was doing to Lance.

Finally he found Hunk in the kitchen. The yellow paladin looked up as soon as he came in, and smiled like only Hunk could do. “Hey, buddy, what’s up?” He noticed Lance’s frazzled state and his warm grin turned into a slight frown. “Are you alright?”

“Hunk can I talk to you? Like, person-to-person? In private?”

“Is it about Keith?”

Lance nodded, and Hunk “ah”ed in understanding. “Sure, Lance. You know you can always talk to me about anything.”

The blue paladin blew out a sigh of relief; he had known Hunk would help him, that’s just the kind of bond they had and the kind of person Hunk was, but it felt so much better to have it confirmed. “Thanks, Hunk. Can we–uh, can we go somewhere more private?”

“Yeah, sure,” Hunk said, putting down whatever food item he was messing with. “How about Yellow’s hangar? Or Blue’s, since you’d probably feel more comfortable with her.”

Lance felt as if a lead weight had been lifted off his shoulders. Hunk was there for him. Hunk would look out for him. “Blue’s, if you wouldn’t mind.”

“Not at all, buddy. C’mon.”

A few minutes later, Lance was perched atop Blue’s paw while Hunk leaned against it and waited patiently for Lance to start talking. Hunk had always been a good listener when it was something that really mattered.

“I–Hunk, I don’t know what to do. It’s just–all too strange, you know? _Keith Kogane_ is… has…” Lance fumbled for a word that described what had happened, because “in love with me” didn’t really seem to cut it.

“Fallen in love with you?”

“But that’s just _it,_ Hunk, _he hasn’t._ It’s fake. At the end of the day, or week, or whatever, Keith’ll be embarrassed and probably go back to being distant and stuff and we were finally talking a little bit or whatever before this happened–at least we had stopped hating each other! And now it’s going to go back to being all weird but the hardest part is that this is all _fake,_ Hunk, it’s fake and… and…” Lance sighed, knowing what he was about to say next and hating every syllable and how vulnerable it made him feel. “I want it to be _real.”_

Hunk exhaled, long and low, nodding and rubbing Lance’s knee. “You like him.”

“Yeah. Yeah I do.”

“So this is more than a teammate having awkward feelings for you that you have to deal with for a week. This is a crush having fake feelings for you that you don’t know what you’re going to do without after the week is done.”

Lance was stunned at how well Hunk had summed it up, but he nodded. “And… it’s knowing the only way he could ever love me… love me _back,_ is because of a love spell.”

“That’s not true.”

“Clearly it is. The love spell is the only time he’s ever been more than politely distant toward me.”

“Couldn’t he just have been hiding it? You are, after all.”

The idea sent a thrill of hope directly into Lance’s heart, but he shoved it down as fast as he could. “No. No, it doesn’t make sense.”

Blatant puzzlement was written across Hunk’s face. “Why not?”

“Because how could someone like _Keith_ ever like someone like _me?_ Plus, you heard Coran. He said it _creates_ romantic emotions. You only have to create what was never there in the first place.”

“Okay, first off, that first thing was the biggest load of nonsense that’s ever come out of your mouth, and I’ve heard a lot of crazy things come out of there. _Anyone,_ including Keith Kogane, would be _lucky_ if someone like you liked them.” Lance opened his mouth to protest, but Hunk just talked louder. “Nope, not hearing it, end of discussion.

“And _secondly,_ Coran _also_ said that he could speak the Amori language, but he managed to communicate he wanted a long-distance relationship with one of their leaders out there. And then he almost popped the question trying to get out of it. If it hadn’t been for Allura, you would’ve been playing best man in a few days. Just because Coran said something about the beetle we know nothing about doesn’t mean it’s true.”

“Hunk, I really appreciate you trying to reassure me, but I can’t afford myself hope. Because if I start to hope and then I’m _wrong,_ I think it’s going to break my heart.”

Hunk suddenly grabbed Lance’s leg and pulled him off the lion paw, bringing him to where Hunk could almost look at him eye-to-eye. “No. No, buddy, if he doesn’t love you back, then he’s not right for you. He’s not the one. Don’t let your heart get broken because one angsty emo teenager doesn’t like you. If he does, like I’m saying he might, then that’s great. But if he _doesn’t…_ well, if you get your heart broken, I’m probably going to kill you both.”

Lance sniffled, and was immediately horrified to realize he had teared up, and then chuckled a little bit. “Thanks, Hunk. I needed that.” And he realized he actually had; Hunk’s talk had cleared his head and taken a bit of the weight off of his shoulders. Maybe he would be able to get through this nightmare if afterwards it had all been fake, like Lance suspected.

Hell, Lance was the king of bouncing back, right? He’d been rejected by more life-forms than he could count. Keith would be no different… _if_ he rejected him. Because it was still an if, right? Still a maybe?

He groaned inwardly to himself. God, he had it so bad. It would definitely _hurt_ if Keith rejected him… but Lance thought he might be able to keep it from scarring.

He had to resist bringing a hand up to his cheek, which had started burning again. Lance laughed a tiny bit, throat still thick with unshed tears. “You know he kissed me, Hunk? Right before he left on recon. He got up on his toes and kissed be on the cheek.”

Hunk smiled a little bit, like he could see the inner turmoil in Lance had lessened. “Well, he’d have too. You know he’s a whole inch shorter than you, right?”

Lance laughed, and suddenly his throat cleared and his eyes no longer felt like they were threatening tears. He was just joking about a crush with a friend. This was good, normal teenager stuff, like their days back in the Garrison. “I’d never let him forget–”

Suddenly, the intercom crackled to life and Allura sounded panicked. “Paladins! To your lions! Shiro’s still out there, and the Galra have captured Keith!”

Lance and Hunk’s eyes shot to each other, fear mirrored in each other’s gazes. “Get to Yellow,” Lance whispered. “We’ve got to get out there.”

Hunk nodded, already running, as Lance started to pull on his armor.

A few ticks later, he was flying out into space in the Blue Lion, followed by Yellow and Green. In the distance was a large Galra cruiser, but anything more than that was too far away to be discernible.

“Please,” he breathed. “Please let him be alright.”

There was no need to elaborate on which he he meant.

* * *

 

Shiro’s face popped up on Lance’s screen, and his face showed every worry raging in his mind. Pidge and Hunk followed right after. “Red got caught in a tractor beam and pulled onto the ship–we can't attack it without risking Keith.”

“We’ve got to send a team inside, then?” Pidge asked, and Shiro nodded.

“I’m holding off the fighters they had in the ship, but I’m going to need more help if I want to last much longer. I'd say two of you need to land on the ship and get Keith, and the other stays with me. Lance–”

“I’m going in.” Lance was not going to be swayed, and clearly Shiro knew it, because he didn't even try to argue.

“Pidge, you go with Lance. Hunk, help guard their lions with me.”

“Roger that.”

“Affirmative.”

The three lions arrived at the ship, and broke off as Hunk went to join the Black Lion and Lance and Pidge touched down and activated the force fields around their lions before entering the ship.

“Where do you think he’ll be?” Lance asked as he powered up his bayard.

“You’re the Keith whisperer,” she muttered. “But in all seriousness, I’ll need to get to the command room if I want to access the camera feeds.”

“Won’t that be super dangerous, though, with everyone in the command room?”

Pidge gave him a look like he had just asked her what 2+2 was. “We’re on a hostile alien spaceship. Of course it’s dangerous. Plus, any important Galra would be on the bridge right now, directing the attack. I can handle myself, Lance.”

“Yeah, I know,” He paused, quiet for a single tick, before continuing. “So you go get in the command center and hack the feeds, and tell me where to go. In the meantime, I’ll try to find him and not die.”

“Sounds like a plan,” she said, and ran off.

Something occurred to Lance as he watched her retreating form. “Wait! How will you know where the command center is?”

“Trust me!” she yelled over her shoulder, before turning a corner and disappearing.

Lance sighed; Pidge knew what she was doing, she was more than capable, but he couldn’t help worrying about his team. If anything happened to any of them it would kill him… speaking of that, he had to find Keith.

He took off running the opposite direction as Pidge and didn’t slow until he heard footsteps coming from around the corner, and he dove into an alcove in the wall.

From the sound of it, there were at least ten Galra walking through the corridor… and as they got closer, the reason why there were so many became painfully clear.

“Let go of me! _–oof–_ I need to get back! _–ack–_ I’ve got to get back to him!”

“Oh, stop your whining, Red Paladin. You’ll see your friends soon enough–through prison bars in your own private cell.”

There was a sound like someone spitting, and then a grunt of pain that hurt Lance to his soul. He risked a quick peek, and saw two Galra holding Keith by either arm, surrounded by a dozen sentries. Keith had lost his helmet somewhere, and bruises mottled his pale skin. He had the beginnings of a black eye and a split lip, and there was a thin stream of blood flowing from his left nostril, but he was alive and there was still that ever-present fire in his eyes, the one that Lance never wanted him to ever lose.

His com suddenly crackled on, and he had to refrain from cursing as he ducked his head down again. “Lance, I’m in.”

 _“I found him, but he’s surrounded by a bunch of Galra. Is there something you can do from there?”_ Lance whispered as quietly as he could, praying to everything that was good and holy that the Galra wouldn’t hear him.

“Hold on”–there was the sound of frantic clicking and a few scattered beeps–“okay, help coming your way.”

There was a quiet whirring noise as panels slid open on the ceiling to reveal blasters, which began to target the Galra.

“What the–? We’ve been sabotaged!” yelled the Galra on Keith’s left.

“Shoot the blasters!” the Galra on his right ordered, and the sentries that weren’t immobilized by the foam shooting out at them began taking aim and firing.

Lance started shooting from his alcove with the bayard, taking out two sentries that were closest before firing at the left Galra. He yelled, clutching his wounded arm, and Keith took the opportunity to punch the right Galra in the face with his free arm, shoving him in front of himself to take a blast of the foam before yanking his other arm free, snatching his bayard from where it was hanging off of the injured Galra, and started taking out sentries, all in one smooth move that made Lance stop and forget for a minute that they were in the middle of a battle and _he needed to be concentrating, not mooning over Keith._ He started shooting at the few sentries left, and soon the foam blasters retreated and all of the sentries were gone, and the two Galra lay unconscious and immobilized.

“Thanks, Pidge.” Lance muttered over the coms.

“No problem. Couldn’t cost you the chance to heroically save your boyfriend.” Lance could practically see the cocky grin on Pidge’s face, and he scowled up at the ceiling, hoping a camera would pick it up.

“First: not my boyfriend. Second: well, he kind of did his own heroic saving.”

“Of course _you’d_ think that.”

“Shut up, Pidge.”

Lance stood up, approaching Keith, whose face lit up as soon as he saw him. “Lance! You’re here!” He ran over and enveloped him in a hug, which was kind of awkward with their bayards but still felt really, really nice. Lance hadn’t even realized just _how insanely worried_ he had been until he saw Keith safe and sound and free from his Galra imprisoners.

“I’m so glad you’re alright,” he muttered into Keith’s soft hair. “I was so worried.”

Keith looked up with the softest smile Lance had seen yet from him, his eyes open and happy and so relieved. “I was too. I was worried… you weren’t coming.” He ducked his head, but not before Lance caught sight of the shame and uncertainty in his eyes. “I shouldn’t have doubted you. I’m sorry.”

 _“No.”_ Lance blurted, voice cracking with emotion. _“_ No, Keith, you shouldn’t be sorry.” He cupped Keith’s chin and gently raised his face to meet Lance’s eyes; his eyes were wide and vulnerable and ashamed, and it cut Lance to the core. _“I’m_ sorry you ever felt that way. You should _never_ have to feel like you’re alone, alright? You’re not alone. Please, Keith, you’re _not alone.”_ Lance could feel his composure slipping as he stared into those violet eyes, but he couldn’t let Keith go on feeling like this. He _couldn’t._ “I will _always_ come for you, okay Keith? _Always.”_

Keith smiled, his eyes almost brimming over with an emotion Lance was just now identifying… as love. Unparalleled love.

Spell or not, Lance never wanted to let that emotion go.

They stood there in silence for a few seconds before Pidge’s voice gently cut through the quiet. “Guys? Galra ship, remember? We’ve got to find your lion.” Lance almost didn’t recognize her at first, with her voice so quiet and free of her trademark snark, but he nodded and carefully untangled himself from Keith’s arms.

“C’mon. We’ve got to get to Red and get out of here.”

Keith nodded. “I know where she is,” he said, grabbing Lance’s hand and pulling him into a run.

“Pidge, cover us until we get Keith to Red, and then meet me back at our lions. Get to Green as soon as you can, okay?”

“Roger that. I hope Keith knows where he’s going, because there are no cameras wherever Red is.” Pidge replied. “See you soon, lovebirds.” Lance could practically see her winking at him as she turned the com off before he could reply.

They didn’t run into a single Galra on the way, the reason for which becoming clear as they stumbled upon the hangar. Keith almost ran in, but Lance caught sight of the room and pulled him back against the wall outside of the door.

It was _teeming_ with Galra soldiers and sentries. Apparently the success of capturing a lion and its paladin was not about to be thrown away easily; the Galra were determined to keep the lion, even if it meant cramming a room so full of soldiers Lance was surprised they had room to breathe.

There was zero chance they could get through that minefield alive. Hell, Lance wasn’t sure they’d be able to step five feet in and avoid getting shot full of holes.

 _“Pidge?”_ he whispered, turning his coms on. “Can you access the defenses in this hangar?”

“I don’t even know where that hangar is, but let me look…”

Lance held his breath as Pidge typed on the other end. They really needed her immobilizing foam if they were going to take out an entire room of Galra, and he wasn’t quite sure what they would do if they couldn’t use it.

“I checked all the hangars logged in the maps here. No dice. Sorry, Lance.”

Lance could practically feel himself drooping. “You sure, Pidge?”

“Positive. I triple checked everything.”

“Dammit. Okay, we’ll just need a different plan.” Lance dropped his head to his chest as he thought about what could possibly even the odds out there, trusting Keith to keep lookout as he thought.

“Lance?” Keith asked quietly, and Lance’s head darted up. There were no Galra around, so he looked at Keith, who was watching him with a searching expression.

“Yeah?”

“What if we use a distraction?”

“No–wait! That’s… actually a great idea!” Lance’s mind began racing. Obviously one of _them_ couldn’t be the distraction, not without getting _killed,_ but they weren’t alone in attacking the base…

“Really?” Keith asked, looking up at him with proud, shining eyes.

Lance laughed and nodded, rubbing his shoulder. “Yeah, Keith, it could totally–” Keith had started moving toward the door, bayard drawn, and Lance grabbed him by the arm before he could reveal themselves. “Oh, wait, hold up, _you_ can’t be the distraction.”

“Why not? Then you could get to Red and escape with her?”

“Because you’d _die,_ Keith, that’s why. No matter how good you are you wouldn’t survive that.” Lance tried to brush Keith’s notions of self-sacrifice as quickly as he could, because if he stopped and thought about them, he’d probably start displaying way too much unwanted emotion that would just get in the way of the mission.

“Then what _would_ be the distraction?”

Lance just grinned, his trademark smirk firmly in place, and had to avoid laughing (or blushing himself) when Keith’s cheeks colored a little. “Wrong question, Keith. The real one is: _who_ will be the distraction?”

A few doboshes and one radio conversation later, they had their plan set up. Lance boosted Keith up onto a ridge on the wall, and Keith pulled Lance up after him. The ridge was just wide enough for them to sit down on, but instead they stood, bayards at their sides and backs pressed against the wall.

“Alright, Hunk, we’re in position…”

“In five…”

“…four…”

“…three…”

“…two…”

“…one! Attacking now. See you on the other side, Lance.”

“You too, buddy.”

Suddenly there was a commotion within the hangar room, and at least a hundred troops quickly mobilized and ran out the door, right by Lance and Keith before rounding the corner and disappearing. They waited a few more ticks, and another, smaller group left in the opposite direction, and then all was still.

“Looks like it worked, Hunk. Lots of sentries coming your way.”

“Roger.”

Lance and Keith slid along the wall until they came to where it rounded the corner into the room. Lance peeked inside; there was only a fourth the troops there were before, and if they played this right, they could take the hangar no problem.

“Okay,” Lance whispered, Keith leaning in closer to hear, “I’m going to run erratically along the walls, shooting. The ridge in there is shaded, and if I do it right, they shouldn’t be able to realize where the shots are coming from, which will confuse them. After they’re stirred up, you’re going to rush in with your sword and make a straight path to your lion. I’ll come down and provide ground support if you need it. When you get to your lion, take out the rest of the sentries, and I’ll run to where Blue is hiding and it should all work out. Sound like a plan?”

Keith looked conflicted, worry boiling in those clear eyes. “It sounds really dangerous on your part, though.”

Lance put his bayard on the ridge so he could grab both of Keith’s shoulders. “Keith. We’re on an hostile alien spaceship. You trust me, right?”

“Of course, but–”

“No buts. I _can_ do this, and I will. I’m going to get you to your lion, and we’re going to survive, okay? We’ve been in way tougher spots. We’re both going to make it. We just have to trust each other.”

Keith nodded; he still wasn’t convinced, obviously–his desire to protect Lance borne from the love spell was incredibly strong–but he was willing to go along with it, and that was good enough for Lance. “Okay. I do trust you, Lance. More than anyone.”

“Thanks, Keith. I trust you too.”

They shared a smile before Lance had to forcibly pry himself away from Keith; it was all too easy to lose himself in those violet eyes, and they had a mission to complete.

“Alright,” Lance said, scooping up his bayard. “See you on the other side, babe.”

He saw Keith’s eyes go wide and his mouth move silently before Lance turned the corner, sticking close to the wall and into the shadows. He moved slowly along the wall until he was just slightly past center, so it wouldn’t be obvious where he came from, and started shooting.

One shot had all of the sentries looking around; two had them waving their weapons around; three had them panicking as much as Galra robots can panic. Everytime Lance took a shot, he ran to a new location to try and throw them off as much as he could. By the time he took ten shots, they still hadn’t figured out where he was.

_WHOOOOSH!_

Or maybe they had. Suddenly, Lance was dodging just as much as he was shooting, if not more so. He was honestly surprised he hadn’t been hit already… but then the shots stopped coming, and he looked down.

He couldn’t tell much, all he saw was a blur of red and white, but wherever it went Galra soldiers went down. Lance couldn’t help smiling to himself–Keith was spectacular in action.

Lance shot a few more Galra down from his perch, but he noticed Keith slowing down as the remaining soldiers crowded around him, and jumped down to join him. He cut a path through the sentries until he got to Keith, who tossed him a grin even while hacking through a sentry’s torso.

“Good of you to join me!”

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world, pretty boy!”

They fell into a rhythm of darting and slicing and shooting, slowly forcing their way through the soldiers and getting closer and closer to the Red Lion. Lance had never felt so invincible while fighting–today, with Keith, he felt like there was always someone to cover his weak spots, always someone there to back him up, always someone there not only fighting _with_ him, but _for_ him. And there was someone for him to fight for as well.

He knew instinctively that they had never made a better team.

But no matter how good they were, they _were_ human and tiring quickly. There weren’t very many sentries left but they had to get to the lion, and Lance began wondering if it would just be better for Keith to make a run for it rather than wasting their energy on a few more soldiers.

But there still were too many for that to be safe, so they kept up their pattern, albeit slower… _dart slice retreat shoot shoot chop shoot dart slice…_ there were less and less now, only half a dozen…

And then suddenly their pattern was broken as Keith’s presence suddenly left his side.

 _“Keith?!”_ Lance yelled, trying frantically to both find him and stay alive as the Galra saw their chance and swarmed closer. He was searching… shooting… looking… and then suddenly he was staring down the barrel of a gun as it started glowing and he knew there was nothing he could do to get out of the way in time…

And then a flash of red and white and black obscured his vision as the blaster fired, and it went tumbling to the ground. _He_ went tumbling to the ground.

_“Keith!”_

Lance ran and scooped the fallen red paladin up, firing blindly at the Galra as he ran for the Red Lion. Getting in the lion was their only hope for survival… _if_ there was still hope for his survival.

 _No._ Lance couldn’t start thinking that way, because then he would break down and they would _really_ be doomed. Because Keith couldn’t be… _dead?_

Lance felt like raw adrenaline was pumping through his veins as he ran even faster toward the lion, dodging the few shots that rang out around him… and then he was racing into her, and the door was closing, and they were safe within the giant mechanical cat. Lance didn’t stop until he reached the cockpit and collapsed into the chair, Keith resting in his lap.

Lance finally allowed himself to look down at the red paladin. His eyes were closed, his mouth slightly open, and there was a charred hole in the front of his armor, but Lance couldn’t tell if it went past the armor and into Keith’s chest or not. There didn’t appear to be any blood, which was good. And… Lance laid his ear against Keith’s chest… _yes._ He was still breathing, albeit shallowly. Keith was _alive._

Lance felt his composure begin to slip, but he didn’t try to fight it. He let his head fall down and rest on Keith’s chest, and he began to cry.

He didn’t even know what he was crying about. Relief that Keith was alive? Fear that he wouldn’t stay that way? Disbelief that Keith had thrown himself in front of Lance, taking the shot for him? Worry about how they were going to escape, now that Keith was unconscious and couldn’t fly Red? Love, goddammit, overwhelming _love_ for this ebony-haired boy with the violet eyes who stupidly sacrificed himself to save Lance?

All of that and more, and Lance poured his raging emotions out into the tears soaking Keith’s chest.

There was a small noise, almost like a cough, and Lance looked up immediately.

“Lance?” Keith mumbled, his eyes opening halfway. “‘S that you?”

Lance nearly started crying again. “Yeah. Yeah, it’s me, Keith. You’re all right, okay? I’ve got you.”

Keith’s mouth curved into a tiny smile. “Okay,” he replied, and his eyes fluttered shut again. Lance wasn’t sure if that meant that he would really be okay or not, but it definitely seemed like a step in the right direction.

Keith was okay, he was alive, and that was all that mattered.

Suddenly, his com crackled. “Lance?! Where are you?”

“I’m in the Red Lion, Pidge.”

“What? What happened? You were supposed to meet me back here!”

“I know, I know, but Keith got shot–”

_“What?”_

“He’s alright, for now at least, but he’s unconscious and can’t fly Red, so we’re trapped in her for now.”

“You’ve got to fly her, Lance.”

“What? I can’t fly Red! She’s Keith’s–”

“Have you _tried?”_

“No! But she’s Keith’s lion!”

“And you have one of the strongest bonds with Keith of anyone on the team! You of all people should be able to fly her. Keith flew Black when Shiro was in danger–you should be able to fly Red when Keith is!”

“But… but what if our bond is just…”

“Because of a spell? Dammit, Lance, have you even been paying attention? You guys had been forming a bond way before that! Sure, let’s face it, Keith might only love you right now because of a spell and never return your affections–”

“I never said I had any affections for him!”

“Yeah, well, I’m saying it. It’s obvious. I can literally hear the tears in your voice after crying your eyes out for your boyfriend. But what I’m saying is, Keith might not love you! But that doesn’t mean he’s not your friend! You guys still have _a_ bond, and you should still be able to pilot Red, if only to save both your butts. Hunk and Shiro should be able to carry Blue if you could just get Red out of the ship and to the castle. We’ll get started on that. You just need to get you and Keith out of there. Alright, Lance?”

Lance sighed; he doubted himself on so many levels to be able to carry out Pidge’s plan. But he did know one thing, and that was if they sat there much longer they were both dead, and Keith’s death was not something he could live with.

“Alright,” he replied. “Thanks, Pidge.”

“Anytime. Now hurry out here, lover boy!” With that, the com crackled off, leaving Lance with only the sound of Keith’s shallow breathing to break the silence.

Lance took a deep breath before reaching for the controls, Keith still laying in his lap, and begged Red to let him in, just this once, just to save her paladin.

_Please, Red. I need to save him. I can’t let him die._

His hands wrapped around the controls.

And the whole cockpit lit up red.

He could feel the lion’s mind in his, her fear, her worry, but also her gratitude. She was grateful for Lance fighting to keep Keith safe, and Lance felt like collapsing into her mind’s touch. She was a lot like Blue, but more fiery, more fierce. Fierceness that was all funneled into her desire to protect her paladin, and fierceness that was going to get them out of there, _alive._

He had never felt more thankful for the Red Lion in his entire life.

“Let’s go, girl,” he said, and his smile was echoed by Red’s roar of triumph.

They blasted a hole through the side of the hangar just as Galra soldiers streamed into the room, and leaped out into space before they could even fire a single shot.

Lance looked at the Galra ship, which now seemed so vulnerable and instead of the prison it once was, and laughed. “You want to leave a little parting gift, Red? Something for them to remember us by?”

Red roared, and the mischievousness he felt from her could have been a direct echo from his own mind. A jawblade formed between her jaws, and Lance was practically whooping in delight as he piloted her around the ship, leaving long gashes in the ship’s side. Red was a whole lot faster than Blue, and harder to pilot, but she was nudging him along and helping him get the hang of it.

With the whole intense battle combined with the worry and stress he’d felt over the last day or so, he’d forgotten how much _fun_ it was to fly. There wasn’t anything like it in the universe, and the lions were the most intuitive, incredible ships he had ever gotten the privilege to pilot.

As he swooped around the ship one last time, he couldn’t resist letting out a whoop of simple joy. He felt Red’s fond amusement in his mind, and he smiled. Truly, there were nothing like the lions in the entire cosmos.

He saw the other four lions hovering a safe distance from the ship, seemingly watching him. Blue was dangling between Yellow and Black, and Green was floating off to the side. He could practically feel Pidge beaming at him, and a second later, his com crackled on.

“Good job, Lance.” Her voice was warm, devoid of her usual sarcasm, and brimming over with so much sibling-like pride it made him smile.

“Thanks, Pidge.”

The others came over the coms, too.

“Thank you for getting Keith out of there, Lance. I’m proud of you.”

“No problem, Shiro. I’m glad I managed it.”

“I wasn’t worried for a second.”

Lance smiled softly; hearing his hero compliment him never failed to make him feel warm inside, and today was no different.

“Buddy! That was insane! You were incredible out there!”

“Thanks, Hunk! I’m sure you were great taking down those fighters, too. And kudos for distracting those sentries–we couldn’t’ve done it without you.”

“Yeah, but you were all like ‘here’s an elaborate plan I thought up on the fly, oh let me go shoot a billion sentries, oh, look, let me just drag my friend’s unconscious body to a giant robot lion while aliens are shooting at me, oh sure, I’ll just pilot her out of there and completely take out the entire ship, no biggie, it’s cool’. You were awesome, man! The true MVP.”

Hunk’s words brought a larger grin to his face than he had worn all day; hearing his best pal say all of that meant _so much,_ Lance couldn’t even put it into words. His face felt like it was about to split in half. “Thanks, Hunk. You know how much that means to me.”

He could practically hear Hunk’s warm smile over the coms. “Yeah. I do.”

There was a slight cough from his lap, and his gaze darted down to the unconscious boy. “Well, this has been fun and all, but we need to get back to the castle.”

“Let’s get him in a cryopod.”

“Can’t have your boyfriend dying on us after this victory, can we?”

“Pidge!”

“Sorry, sorry.”

Lance sighed, a grin still resting on his face as they flew back to the castle in perfect synchronization, dancing through the vastness of space with the stars as their audience.

* * *

 

Keith was in the cryopod for four and a half days, and Lance spent every minute of it in the cryochamber waiting for him to wake up.

As soon as they had gotten back to the castle, everyone had rushed to Red to help Lance with Keith, and while the blue paladin had tried to insist on carrying him to the cryopod himself, one look at him had Shiro carrying Keith–and Hunk supporting Lance’s exhausted frame all the way to the med bay.

He remembered falling asleep as soon as he was laid on a cot, but when he woke up Keith was in a cryopod and Shiro was leaning against the wall, watching them both.

“Coran says he’ll be okay in a few quintants,” Shiro had said as soon as noticed Lance was awake. “I know you’re worried.”

Lance had let out a sigh of relief he hadn’t realized he had been holding. “Yeah. I was.”

They had both stared at the pale boy, unconscious but still beautiful to Lance’s eyes, before Shiro broke the silence again. “Thank you. For saving him. He–he’s like a brother to me, and I don’t know what I would’ve done if he had been captured.”

Lance chuckled softly. “I don’t know either, but I do know I would’ve done it with you.”

For the first time, Shiro turned to face Lance. “You really like him, huh?”

Lance had met his eyes, finally daring to say what he had never been able to before. “I love him, Shiro.”

Shiro had nodded, unfathomable emotions roiling in his steel eyes. “He could use someone like you in his life.”

“I hope so.” Lance had said, smiling while his eyes had filled with quiet sadness. “I really do.”

Lance was laying on the floor, thinking about what would happen after the spell wore off, when he heard a hissing sound and immediately stood up. Keith stumbled out of the pod, took one step, and nearly fell over–except Lance was there and caught him, gently pulling him upright.

“Lance?” Keith sounded almost as groggy as the first day when he had been sleeping off the drug, and Lance wanted to laugh. Back then he had been almost terrified of Keith’s affections, and now that was all he wanted.

Too bad they were fake affections, and they were about to wear off in a day.

Lance shoved that to the side. It didn’t matter that Keith was under some alien bug’s love spell–right now, he was healed and okay and oh so _alive_ and that was all that was important.

“Keith.”

“Oh, God, Lance, you’re okay.” Keith said, and buried his face into Lance’s shoulder. “You’re alive.”

Lance laughed out loud. _“I’m_ okay? Last I recalled, _you_ were the idiot who jumped in front of a laser.” He grinned, lifting Keith’s chin so their eyes met, and he was pleased to find an indignant pout on Keith’s pale face.

“I was trying to save you!”

“And you did that very well.”

Keith crossed his arms and huffed. “Don’t patronize me.”

“My hero,” Lance said, reaching down to clutch Keith’s hands and staring into his violet eyes in a way that implied he wasn’t quite being sarcastic.

“Oh.” Keith blushed, the tips of his ears going red. “Umm…” Lance just smiled, happy that he could make Keith blush, and delighting in how red his face was. “You’re my hero, too.”

Lance took back the blushing thing; he was pretty sure his cheeks were on fire, and his whole chest felt warm. Keith smiled innocently up at him with those big violet eyes and Lance was pretty sure he was going to faint right then and there.

Instead, he fought against the fire in his cheeks and pulled on Keith’s hands. “C’mon… you’ve got to get dressed. The team will be glad to see you finally awake.”

“Yeah, okay,” Keith’s smile could light up solar systems. He gently removed one of his hands from Lance’s and began walking with him to his room.

He looked a little nervous when he was about to go inside, like he was afraid Lance was going to disappear if he took his eyes off him for a minute. Lance just smiled (he noticed he’d been doing a lot of that lately). “I’ll be waiting right outside. Don’t worry.” Keith smiled back, the nervousness wiped from his gaze, and ducked into the room.

When he stepped out again, he looked like a new man. Gone was the skintight cryopod suit, and he looked infinitely more comfortable in his normal skinny jeans and cropped jacket. It certainly helped that the bruises had disappeared after his time in the cryopod as well.

Keith caught Lance staring and spun in a little circle, laughing. “How do I look?”

Lance couldn’t help joining in with Keith’s bell-like laughter. “Like you just got out of a five-day cryosleep after getting shot by an alien.”

Keith swatted him, but he was still smiling as he took Lance’s hand and threaded their fingers together. “Yeah, yeah, Sharpshooter.” He leaned into Lance’s side, resting his head on his shoulder. “C’mon, let’s go see the others.”

“After you,” Lance said, gesturing with his free hand, and they walked hand in hand all the way to the dining room.

“Hey, Keith! Glad to see you up and around!” called Hunk, looking up from the bowl of food goo he was messing with. “And Lance, good to see you among the living again!”

Before Lance could reply, Keith cut in. “Hey, Hunk. What do you mean, among the living?”

Hunk chuckled. “Don’t worry, Lance wasn’t hurt or anything. He just didn’t leave the cryopod room since you were put under, is all. Not even to sleep or eat–he slept on a cot and asked one of us to bring him food whenever he got hungry.”

“Oh?” Keith asked.

“Yup! He was really worried about you, man. I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen Lance that on-edge before.”

Keith turned to Lance, warm gratitude shining in his eyes, before embracing him in a tender hug that Lance definitely hadn’t been ready for. As much as he’d been through in the last couple days, he couldn’t believe that a hug was making him short-circuit now… but he found himself not knowing what to with his hands, and he could feel the blush creeping up his face as his eyes went wide with surprise.

All too soon, Keith broke away, still smiling up at him with that blissfully in love expression that still made ants crawl down Lance’s spine.

“Thanks,” he said, voice laden with emotion. “For having my back.”

Lance smiled back, ignoring the way his cheeks seemed to burn. “Always.”

Behind them, someone cleared their throat.

“Are we disturbing something?” came Allura’s clear voice, and Lance’s head shot up immediately, the burning in his cheeks increasing tenfold.

“With them, it’s always something.” Pidge was also standing with the space princess, along with Shiro and Coran. “Just be glad there wasn’t _more_ contact. This is a PG-13 movie, kids.”

“PG-13?” the Altean princess asked.

“Uh, Earth term. Means appropriate for kids.”

“But _they’re_ children. What could they do–”

Lance decided to derail this train of thought before Pidge could do any further damage. “Ah, hey, guys! Just… talking with Keith. No big deal.” He shot Pidge a glare and quickly slipped his hand out of the other boy’s. “Nothing going on, _like usual.”_

Pidge just smirked, rolling her eyes, as the rest of the team said hello to Keith. He was plenty polite, but it was clear by the way he inched closer to Lance that all he wanted to do was talk with him. Lance figured the team would have to wait for the spell to wear off if they wanted an actual conversation with Keith.

Come to think of it, _he’d_ have to wait for the spell to wear off if he wanted a conversation not based off of bug-induced emotions. Lance had to repress a shudder; that was _not_ a conversation he was looking forward too.

Shiro managed to engage Keith in what was at least an almost-conversation, and Coran pulled Lance aside.

“Lance, I’ve been doing something research on the love beetle, and I have a theory. Would you mind if I tested it?”

“No, not at all, Coran,” Lance replied, both surprised that he had a lead and that he had chosen to ask Lance about it.

“Alright, great! I still have to do a bit more digging, and I’d like to wait until Number Four has recovered from the spell to do the test, but I should have it ready by tomorrow afternoon.”

“Awesome, Coran. Thanks for helping me out with all of this,” Lance said, a genuine smile curving his mouth gently upwards.

“No problem, my boy! I was young too once, after all. I still remember the charms of young love,” he said, winking. Before Lance could protest, no matter how weak his protests were going to be, Coran stepped away with a grin on his face, starting up a conversation with Allura.

And then Keith had made his way over again and grabbed his hand, and they made their escape into the quieter parts of the castle.

* * *

 

Lance regarded the whole day with a strange sort of melancholy–for all he knew, this was the last day of Keith’s affections he would ever experience. Even if they were fake, they felt real (if a little over the top), and knowing that he would have to give them up soon made him feel even more vulnerable and remorseful. This time had brought Lance’s feelings to light, but now that it was ending, Lance wasn’t sure what he was going to do.

But for now, he’d roll with it and enjoy the love in those piercing eyes while it lasted.

After all, Lance _was_ the king of bouncing back.

It wasn’t until the middle of the night that things started to go south, but Lance would have honestly been very concerned if things _hadn’t_ gone wrong.

Keith had dragged Lance to his room to sleep, largely because Lance was honestly exhausted and didn’t have it in him to argue–though he _did_ have enough energy to shoot Pidge a glare as she wiggled her eyebrows at them as they went to go sleep together. Plus, Keith was incredibly warm (well, that made sense, he was the “guardian spirit of fire” or whatever), and it was way easier to sleep with him like a hot water bottle lying next to him.

He had fallen asleep rather painlessly, and thought he was going to be able to sleep through the night, when he was inexplicably woken up. He lay there in silence for a few minutes, trying to figure out what had woken him up, which was when he realized–he wasn’t laying in silence.

Next to him, Keith was shivering despite Lance’s own warmth, and quietly letting out little moans that made Lance’s heart hurt. It reminded Lance when his own younger nieces and nephews would have nightmares and crawl into bed with him.

And so, Lance did what he always did for them. Slowly, so he wouldn’t disturb Keith, he took one of his arms and began rubbing large, soothing circles into his back, hoping that the repetitive touch would dispel the shivering and hopefully take Keith’s mind somewhere nicer than the nightmare.

It felt like hours, but finally Keith’s body still and his breathing slowed, and he fell back into a more peaceful sleep. Lance sighed with relief; he knew he wasn’t going to be able to sleep a wink if Keith was moaning next to him, and he’d like to get at least _some_ of his beauty rest. The worry he’d been experiencing over the past week wasn’t doing any favors for his skin.

But as Lance closed his eyes and tried to drift off, he realized something was wrong. But this time, the problem wasn’t Keith. It was _him._

And after a few quiet moments, he knew why.

Comforting Keith had taken him back to his own house, with his own family, in his own bed. It had taken him away from this crazy space adventure, so far from Earth, and now that he was back… well, he missed it all. He missed his home, his family, _his_ _planet_ for God’s sake.

He almost laughed out loud. What homesick person has it so bad they miss their own goddamned _planet?_ He used to get homesick back in the Garrison, when they were allowed weekly calls to their family and occasional vacations.

Now he was on an alien castleship floating in the vast void of space, with no home in sight.

He just wanted his _family_ again.

Lance could feel a dense lump of emotion rising in his throat, and he inherently knew he was about to cry. He also knew he couldn’t cry lying here with Keith and wake him up and bother him with his own problems, so as quietly as he could he extricated himself from the sheet and Keith’s loose embrace.

Soon, Lance had escaped the room and the door was making a quiet whooshing noise behind him, and the castle was silent around him. He didn’t know where the hell he was going, but he did know he needed to leave the claustrophobic corridors behind, so he walked, almost ran, along the hallway.

He stumbled into the bridge, with its limitless expanse of stars, and sat down so close to the glass he was almost touching it. If he tried, he could imagine one of the millions of stars he saw was the Sun, and orbiting it none too far away was Earth, with Veradero Beach and his family and his home and garlic knots and rain…

Lance’s breath hitched as he ducked his head in between his knees, which he had tucked tight against his chest, and he cried.

This wasn’t like when he had cried for Keith, a few days ago–those tears had been mostly relieved, partly worried.

These tears were regret, remorse, heartsickness, and longing. These tears were the tears of a boy who wanted to sleep in his own bed. The tears of a boy who was just a boy from Cuba, who wanted nothing more than to be back with his family.

These were the tears of a boy far from home, and who might never see it again.

Lance knew he sounded wretched, that the sobs coming from his strangled throat were inhuman, but he didn’t care. All he could focus on was the fact that he was in _goddamned space,_ and his family was _back on Earth,_ and he could _die_ before he saw them again.

And then he was distantly aware of something warm being draped over his hunched form, and an arm and a body pressing close, and warm circles being rubbed into his cold back. He slowly leaned into the touch, his sobs never stifling.

Then slowly, ever so slowly, his crying quieted, and they sat there in silence, watching the stars.

In the morning, Lance woke up with his own jacket draped over him and an ebony-haired boy curled against his side.

* * *

 

Today was the day–the day the spell finally wore off Keith and Lance had to come to terms with their relationship, whatever it was. It wasn’t a day he had been necessarily looking forward to, but it was definitely a necessary day.

Lance couldn’t live with Keith’s fake affection anymore–not because he didn’t appreciate it, no, just the opposite. He feared he was being drawn in too deep, and Keith was a person just like him; he deserved to have his own feelings, not just some that were spelled on. So Lance accepted it for what it was, and was just waiting for it to happen.

When it finally did, he wasn’t exactly expecting it.

They were walking, hand in hand, and Keith had just opened his mouth to say something when nothing came out and he slumped against Lance.

Lance frantically caught him, hoping desperately that Keith was okay and hadn’t contracted some strange alien fainting virus, when he realized that Keith’s eyes were glowing the same blue color they had seven days ago.

_Oh. It’s over._

_Finally._

Then his eyes cleared, and they were devoid of any emotion besides confusion. Lance knew he shouldn’t be surprised, but it still _hurt_ to see Keith looking at him without any inkling of affection.

“Lance?” His voice was shaky. “What happened?”

“C’mon,” was all Lance said. “We’ve got to get you to the others.” He reached out his hand, an invitation for Keith, but the other boy just stared at it, unmoving. Lance awkwardly dropped it to his side and started toward the bridge, where he figured he could find the Alteans.

 _Dammit, Lance,_ he thought to himself as he jogged. _Why’d you have to reach for his hand?_

Well. Lance knew why: he was a lovestruck idiot who had foolishly hoped Keith’s feelings for him extended beyond a spell, and so far it was pretty obvious they didn’t.

But Lance had made it this far on hope and luck; he wasn’t going to start discounting it now. Maybe he still had a chance. Slav could probably give him his exact odds, but Lance figured they were around 4.56%.

Eh. He’d had worse.

He got to the bridge, Keith close behind, and Allura scanned them both. She noticed the distance between them, and realization flooded her face. “It’s over.”

Lance nodded. “Yeah.”

“What? What–what’s over?” Keith asked, pressing the heel of his hand to his forehead. “And is it why my head hurts like someone shot me multiple times?”

“More like shot you once,” Lance muttered.

Keith’s brows furrowed. “What do you mean? And why does it sound familiar?”

Lance opened his mouth to answer, but Allura took charge of the situation, waving Coran over. “Don’t worry, Keith. We’ll explain when the others get here.”

Coran made an announcement over the intercom, and while they stood there waiting, Keith scowled and rubbed his head. Against his better judgement, Lance closed the distance between them and placed a hand on his shoulder. “You alright, buddy?”

He had been expecting Keith to shove him off, but instead he just frowned, still massaging his forehead. “Yeah… my head just feels really weird, though. Like I just woke up from a really long dream but can’t remember for the life of me what it was about.”

“We’ll tell you. I’ll warn you though, it’s a long, weird story.”

“It involves you, doesn’t it?”

Lance frowned, removing his hand. “Hey! Just because–”

The door whooshed open behind them, and Shiro, Pidge, and Hunk came jogging in.

“We came as soon as we heard,” Shiro said. “Keith, you feeling alright?”

“My head hurts a little bit… why? Why’s everyone acting like I came back from the dead or something?”

Shiro scratched his neck, looking suddenly nervous. “Uh… it’s a long story.”

“I’ve got time.”

Pidge sighed. “Okay. It’s like this. We were on a diplomatic mission, and you stormed off into a field. Lance followed after you to drag you back to the castle. You remember that?”

“Yeah, and then I remember a weird feeling… a sudden dot of warmth on my neck, or something like that. That’s when it all goes kind of blurry.”

“Well, you were bit by an alien bug that… creates romantic feelings. We believe it creates romantic feelings for the first intelligent life form the bitten person sees, in your case…” Pidge trailed off, leaving it to Keith to connect the painfully obvious dots.

Keith blanched suddenly, his entire face draining of color as his eyes went wide and fixed on Lance. Lance nodded grimly, and Keith staggered before Shiro put an arm on his shoulder to steady him.

“I remember now…” Keith gasped, and sank down to his knees. “Seeing Lance, and… uh, sleeping with him, and the recon mission, and getting captured, and jumping in front of Lance, the cryopod… and then last ni–” He met Lance’s eyes, and the blue paladin had never seen Keith more spooked than he looked when he was remembering everything that had happened under the spell. “Oh my God,” he moaned, burying his face in his hands, bringing his fingers to run up through his hair. “Oh my God…”

Lance could feel his heart cracking as he watched Keith incredulously remember everything he had done. He didn’t feel that way, after all. He couldn’t. Not with the way he was acting.

Shiro was watching Keith, but both Pidge and Hunk were looking at him with expressions of pity. He wondered if his pain was written across his face, or if it was just too obvious that Keith didn’t return his affections.

And then suddenly Coran was interjecting.

“Actually, Number Five, while your analyses are usually spot-on, I do believe there was a slight error in that description of the beetle.”

Pidge looked up at him, confused. “But that was all the information we were able to gather from the Amori?”

“Ah, but I managed to do a bit of my own detective work,” Coran said with a twinkle in his eye. “I found out that the beetle doesn’t _create_ romantic feelings at all!”

Now everyone was staring at Coran, including Lance. What was the Altean getting at? Obviously it created romantic feelings. Keith wasn’t like that everyday, after all.

“No, it _amplifies_ _pre-existing feelings!_ That means, when one is bitten by the bug, it simply heightens feelings that are already there, albeit to an extreme extent.”

Lance’s eyes went wide as he got what Coran was implying. “Are you saying…”

Coran beamed. “Indeed! I’m saying that Keith had feelings for Lance all along, feelings that were simply strengthened by the beetle!”

Keith was now on his feet. “No–I never–Coran, I’m not so sure about your theory.”

Lance was a little hurt by how quickly Keith rose to shot it down, and Coran had been wrong before, but Lance couldn’t help holding out for the little bit of hope the Altean had held out in front of him.

“On the contrary, my dear boy. I can test my theory, and I will, in fact!” Coran suddenly pulled a syringe full of sparkling crimson liquid seemingly from nowhere. “This is erosbloom serum, what the Amorian Love Beetles feed on; in fact, the flower is the _only_ thing they feed on, and the flower’s powers are strengthened once digested by the beetle, giving it its unique bite.”

Several things clicked at once. “Is that what you were asking to test the other day?” Lance asked, and everyone’s eyes darted to him, surprised that he knew even this small part of Coran’s plan.

“Yes, and I do believe you already gave me permission to test it!” And with that, Coran jabbed the needle into Lance’s arm before he could protest.

It started as a single dot of warmth where the needle went in–it didn’t even hurt, just felt pleasantly warm. Lance quite enjoyed the experience, in fact.

And then the world tinted red, and everything slid in and out of focus. He could tell there were people around him, and they were talking, but their voices were garbled and he could barely make out their forms in the sea of swirling scarlet. He began to feel a little woozy, and he could feel his gaze being subconsciously pulled in a certain direction.

“Lance?”

A single pure voice cut through the garble, and he instinctively moved his head toward it.

He knew instantly who the angelic voice belonged to–the single person he could make out clearly, glowing with an inner radiant light that illuminated his pale skin and ebony locks. His deep violet eyes were like doorways to other galaxies, and Lance knew he wanted nothing more than to lose himself in them.

A single thought ran through his delirious mind.

_Keith._

In an instant, the crimson tint faded away and he could understand what the others were saying. They were worried, asking after him, concerned about his wellbeing.

None of that mattered, though. Only one thing truly did.

He walked up to Keith, his blue eyes never leaving Keith’s purple ones, and gently took both of his hands in his. Twin starbursts of intoxicating warmth flooded through Lance’s body as he gripped Keith’s hands, and it struck him just how perfect Keith was as he stared into those radiant eyes.

So he told him so.

“You’re beautiful,” he said, and Keith flinched.

“Wha–what?”

“You’re beautiful,” he repeated. “Your flawless pale skin, your soft hair like a starless night, your breathtaking violet eyes that hold the galaxies. You have the prettiest eyes, you know that, right?”

Keith’s face colored, and Lance could see his ears reddening in that adorable way they did whenever he was flustered. Keith’s gaze dipped down as he mumbled something, his ears reddening even more.

“What?” Lance asked, gently tilting Keith’s chin back upward, relishing in the warmth that came from touching Keith’s smooth, beautiful face.

“Nothing.”

“C’mon, you can tell me,” Lance encouraged gently, his voice soft. “You can tell me anything.”

If it was possible, Keith’s face went redder as his eyes darted around the room like a cornered animal’s. For a second, Lance thought he wasn’t going to tell him. But then he started muttering, not meeting Lance’s gaze. “Don’t have the prettiest eyes.”

“Hmm?” Lance cocked his head. What did Keith mean? Obviously he did. There was no one on the ship, probably in the universe, whose eyes could compete with Keith’s.

Keith cleared his throat, and looked up to meet Lance’s gaze, determination written in his stare. “I don’t have the prettiest eyes.”

“Of course yo–”

“Because _you_ do.”

_Oh._

Lance felt like his brain was about to short-circuit. He could feel his face reddening to match Keith’s, who had dropped his gaze in favor of looking embarrassedly at his feet.

He didn’t know what to do, what he wanted to do. He wanted to reach out and hug Keith, to whisper in his ear and hold his perfect frame close and revel in his warmth, he wanted… He wanted to kiss Keith, and he wasn’t sure if there was anything the universe strong enough at that moment to stop him.

He slowly drew Keith’s chin up again, so that those striking violet eyes would meet his blue ones.

“I want to kiss you.”

A shudder went through Keith’s body, and he looked like part of him wanted to bolt, but instead, he nodded. It was tentative, it was small, but it was a nod. “Okay.” Keith whispered.

Lance felt the entirety of his body fill with warmth as he leaned his head down, closing his eyes–and then the world spun for a second, and he felt himself collapsing before strong, warm arms wrapped around him and held him up.

The world flashed red again as voices surrounded him, but only for an instant, and then he could see and hear again.

It was his friends, and they sounded worried, and–oh. Keith had his arms wrapped around his waist, and Lance hurriedly disentangled himself.

“What happened?” But even as he asked the question, he knew the answer. Coran had injected him with some sort of diluted beetle bite, and he had gone crazy over Keith. He didn’t remember the details, but given how red Keith’s cheeks were, it had been pretty embarrassing.

Slowly the particulars began fading back: him calling Keith beautiful, saying he had pretty eyes, then _Keith_ saying _he_ had prettier eyes, then–ah. Yes. Asking to kiss him. _Almost_ kissing him.

He had asked to kiss Keith Kogane, and Keith had said _yes._

Lance wasn’t quite sure whatever Coran had injected him with wasn’t some crazy hallucinogenic drug, but as he looked around at the stunned faces, he knew it wasn’t. Even Coran looked mildly surprised, like he hadn’t expected his theory to work out so well.

Wait.

Coran’s theory. That it just enhanced emotions, that had just been proven when Lance had scanned over other blurry faces before finally sighting on Keith’s.

That meant…

Keith _loved_ him.

Lance was experiencing so many disorienting emotions at once, it was like a torrential waterfall of feelings crashing through his mind.

“Well!” chirped Coran. “Looks like my theory is well-founded, after all! The petals of the erosbloom worked quite nicely as a diluted bug bite.” He winked at Lance, then reached down to pat his shoulder and whisper in his ear. “Well done, my boy.”

Lance just flushed and watched as Coran left the room, saying that he had filled his quota for being right for the day, and that he was off to do some cleaning.

Allura clapped her hands. “Well, that’s one problem solved! I’m going to go find the mice–I haven’t seen them lately.”

Pidge just wolf-whistled and grinned mischievously up at Lance before leaving. Hunk just came up to Lance, said “I’m glad you had nothing to worry about, buddy,” and left. Shiro looked back and forth between Keith and Lance before leaving the room, nodding to himself and looking every inch a proud father.

And then they were alone. Lance could barely look at Keith without blushing, but he managed to stutter out a sentence. “W–Will you go for a walk with me?”

Keith didn’t say a word, just held out his hand with a shy smile. Lance felt his own lips curving up, and taking it, they began the walk down to the surface.

* * *

 

“So,” Lance started as they walked through the tall grass. “That was admittedly not the way I was planning on telling you.”

“Telling me what?” Keith teased. “You haven’t told me anything, besides that you could get _lost_ in my _dazzling eyes.”_

Lance rolled his eyes, grinning. “Excuse you, they’re not simply dazzling, they’re absolutely _gorgeous,_ and I would never be able to find my way out once I got lost in them.”

Keith blushed slightly, and Lance felt a thrill of victory up his spine. Flustering Keith had quickly become his new favorite pastime. “Anyway, would _you_ like to hear some of _your_ great lovestruck one-liners? I do have a few personal favorites.”

Keith waved his hands, shaking his head. “No, no, no, that’s not necessary. I already remember way too much about that week, and I was in a cryopod for more than half of it.”

“Yeah, after you gallantly _flung yourself_ in front of me _to save me.”_

“The one thing my love-bitten self did right.”

“I don’t know, I thought all of the clingy hand-holding was kind of cute. Plus, you snore, and it’s adorable.”

“I do not!” Keith looked adorably indignant, almost pouting, and Lance smiled.

“You do to. It’s like a little kitten snore,” Lance teased, and Keith huffed and plopped down on the ground.

He suddenly yawned. “M’tired,” he grunted. “Love spells really take it out of you.” He stretched like a cat, and laid back on the ground, gazing up at Lance with affection in his eyes.

Lance returned his gaze with equal adoration, and picked a particularly large blossom off a nearby stalk of grass. He knelt down next to Keith, tucking the crimson flower behind his ear, into his hair, and tried to memorize the sight.

One thing love-bitten him had gotten right was that Keith really _was_ beautiful…

Hmm, speaking of that…

“You know what?” Lance asked as Keith’s eyes focused on him.

“What?”

“You owe me something.” he said, his eyes sparkling mischievously.

Keith’s eyes lit up with an inner fire, flames that danced delightedly within Keith’s radiant violet eyes.

“Ah, you’re right. Would you like to claim it now?”

“Don’t mind if I do,” Lance replied, and ducked his head down to finally, _finally_ meet Keith’s warm lips. Keith brought his arms up to wrap around Lance’s waist and draw him closer, and they both lost themselves in each other.

They gently broke apart, and Lance had never seen anything more beautiful than the love dancing in Keith’s violet eyes, the love that wasn’t brought on by some spell or insect– _real_ love, all for him.

“God, I love you.”

Keith’s smile got even wider, and Lance now knew how sweet it tasted.

“I love you, too.”

Lance sighed in utter contentment and laid his head down on Keith’s warm chest, smiling as Keith’s arm came down to wrap gently wrap itself around Lance’s waist.

They laid in silence, watching the tall grass wave in the gentle breeze, neither noticing the crimson beetle that watched them both before fluttering away on heart-shaped wings.


End file.
